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Game Mechanics and Controls
'Game Mechanics and Controls' 'Movement' Movement will be based on physics and forces, to impose the limitations of momentum. This is to create additional situations where the player must plan ahead or are limited in their mobility. 'Controls' *W activates forward thrusters. *S activate rear thrusters. *A and D fire dodge jets. These are described below. *Holding the Right mouse button down will cause the ship to turn in that direction. 'Dodging' In an emergency, the player may activate powerful side-to-side jets. They have a cooldown timer, and cannot be used constantly. They can be used to avoid a dire emergency. Currently, dodging moves the ship left or right, from the ship's reference frame rather than the camera's. This makes things hard for the player, though may be acceptable. 'Weapons' The player will only be able to prepare and fire one weapon at a time. They will select their current weapon via hotkeys. They will discharge their weapons with the left mouse button. 'Laser Weapons' Laser weapons are typefied by the following traits: *They must be charged before they can fire. **This means holding down the button for an extended period of time. **Releasing the button will discharge the shot. **Currently there are no plans to introduce a "cancel shot" button, but it deserves consideration. *They have a long recycle time between shots. *When charged, there is an optimal fire point. If the player continues to overcharge past that point, the final shot will be less effective. *They hit their targets instantly. The purpose of laser weapons is to provide an additional solution to missile weapons, and to give the player a solution to unpredictable targets. 'Missile Weapons' Missile Weapons are typefied by the following traits: *Must aquire aspect lock before they can fire. **This means holding down the left mouse button and holding the mouse over the target for a period of time. **Once an aspect lock is aquired, it is maintained permenantly until a missile is fired. Once the missile has been released, another aspect lock must be achieved. **There are currently no plans for subsystems that can shake an aspect lock, but those deserve consideration. *Continuously travel towards their target, adjusting their course as necessary. *Slow travel speed, compared to projectiles. *Maintain momentum, which can cause them to overshoot from clever maneuvering on the target. *Moderate recycle time between shots; real limitation is aspect lock. *Extremely high damage. *Can be detonated prematurely by Flares, Lasers, and Projectiles. The purpose of missile weapons is to apply pressure to the target, creating mistakes and openings to deliver damage from other weapons. 'Unguided Projectile Weapons' Projectile weapons are typefied by the following traits: *No restriction on when they can fire. **Potentially they will have ammunition, or magazines. *Fast travel speed compared to missiles, but are easily dodged. *Moderate to high damage. *Very low recycle rate. The purpose of projectile weapons are to reward players for trapping their enemies by giving them a high-damage ability which relies on prediction. At the same time, it also encourages players to remain mobile. High mobility means the player will be forced to cover more of the map, which will allow more terrain elements to be used. 'Defenses' The player will have a limited selection of defenses available. Each of them will be directly activated with different hotkeys. 'Shields' Shields are typefied by the following traits: *They default to off, and must be turned on to be used. *They will not remain online permenantly. *Currently, they wax and wane in their efficiency. This may be changed at a later date. *Shields reduce damage dealt to the target by a percentage, capping at 100%. *Moderate recharge time. The purpose of shields are to give the player a last resort option in case their maneuvering won't be enough. At the same time, it still requires some foresight as the shields aren't instantly effective. 'Flares' Flares are typefied by the following traits: *When launched, they will confuse missiles inside a radius, causing the missiles to track the flare. *Flare packs contain chaff, which will explode outward in a uniform and reliable pattern. If a missile hits this chaff, it will explode. If it does not, it will re-aquire lock on the player upon leaving the flare's area of effect. *Flares have an extremely long recycle time. The purpose of flares is to provide a missile-only defense that can keep a smart player from using their more flexible missile defenses. Ironically, because they are so complex to use (timing it just right with just the right angle so the missile hits the chaff when the chaff is released) the target is still entirely distracted by the missile, allowing their enemy to take advantage.